Food

From the Texas Tribune: WASHINGTON - The state of Texas suffered a ghastly gastronomic defeat in the halls of the U.S. Capitol Wednesday afternoon, all over cheese. About a month ago, U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton picked an online fight with his GOP colleagues, Texas U.S. Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz , charging that his home state's Arkansas cheese dip is better than "Texas cheese dip." (Arkansas also claims to be home of the cheese dog, supposedly invented in Little Rock in 1956. That would be...

Ask any displaced Texan what they miss from home and they'll likely list a few items: brisket, football, higher speed limits, tacos and kolaches. Now, if you're lucky enough to have had a kolache, you know it's a Texas staple, but if you haven't had one, you're probably still trying to figure out how to pronounce the word. It's "ko-lah-chee." Kolaches are Czech pastries made of a yeast dough and usually filled with fruit, but sometimes cheese. The ultra-traditional flavors — such as poppy...

From Texas Standard: In Texas, tacos take priority. But what do you do when you can’t find a taco place? Here are a few taco joints to put in your taco emergency box. Mando Rayo and Jarod Neece are two taco journalists traveling across Texas tasting every taco in sight for their new book, " The Tacos of Texas ". They describe what is acceptable to do when you’re really desperate for a taco – turning to fast food tacos.

From Texas Standard: We often talk about our favorite barbecue joints in Texas, but of all the characteristics we use to label our favorites, we're hard pressed to mention one without a closed sign. But Sonny Bryan’s 24-hour smokehouse in Dallas changed their hours in May. Texas Monthly’s barbecue editor Daniel Vaughn says the now round-the-clock barbecue joint used to have hours more typical of famed barbecue joints.

From Texas Standard: In a state where the taco reigns supreme, it was inevitable that someone would write the be-all, end-all book on the subject. That’s exactly what taco journalists Armando Rayo and Jarod Neece have done. The two taco-lovers embarked on a journey across 10 cities in Texas to find the best, the worst and the weirdest tacos for their new book, The Tacos of Texas .

In the latest installment of our ATXplained series , KUT's Kate McGee tackled the grocer-backed frenzy surrounding the Hatch chile pepper. It's a time when the flavor of the beloved New Mexican pepper infiltrates seemingly any and all sundries. For every obvious flavor combo, like chips or salsa or tortilla soup, there are seemingly dozens of other, more questionable fusions – Hatch pancake mix, Hatch beer, Hatch poundcake , Hatch wine, Hatch cookies and the like. Kate's story sought to answer the question of how festivals like Central Market's Hatch-A-Palooza sprouted up, and the answer to that question – and the revelation that Hatch chiles are virtually identical to counterparts like the Anaheim – was unsavory to some. Things got heated. So, here's a smattering of responses, compliments and hot takes we got online.

From Texas Standard: Marla Torrado and Felipa Puente are taking a tour of a Texaco station in the Dove Springs community of Austin. The predominantly low-income neighborhood is a far cry from downtown’s flagship Whole Foods Market and the city’s most Instagrammed restaurants. Dove Springs is situated in the southeast part of the city. To social scientists it’s a well-known food desert . There are few restaurants – mostly fast food – and just one large grocery store on the neighborhood’s edge, that’s difficult to reach without a car. But residents like Torrado and Puente are leading a movement to bring healthy food to every corner – or corner store. The store owner is showing them some of the healthier food items that need restocking: bags of brown rice, dried beans, and whole grain cereal. Torrado is the local food retail organizer for the Healthy Corner Store Initiative. Go Austin Vamos Austin , or GAVA, is spearheading the effort – it’s a grassroots coalition of nonprofits and community members.

From Texas Standard: In a state where taco is king, assertions of a town's taco superiority are fightin' words, as past events have shown us . So claiming one specific town is "most improved" is a risky move. But taco journalists Mando Rayo and Jarod Neece say one Texas city deserves that honor. In fact, one of the city's establishments was just named one of the best in the nation .

From Texas Standard : If you want a taste of white-tail deer in Texas, your best bet is to go out and shoot one, because you can't buy it at the grocery store. But why, when Texas has a multi billion-dollar hunting industry, much of it centered on white-tail deer? Greg Simons, former president of the Texas Wildlife Association , says the ban on commercial venison has more to do with how we value deer as wildlife. “Wildlife is a public trust resource, meaning that wildlife generally...

From Texas Standard: It’s early on a June Friday evening in Austin. Bar manager Mark Yawn is carrying a large case of Topo Chico into the bar area of a buzzy downtown Austin restaurant. He’s preparing for the evening rush. On a hot day in Texas, many reach for a cold bottle of water. Some think that water is best when bubbly. And for many connoisseurs of that bubbly water – there's nothing better than a Topo Chico. It’s one of the restaurant’s most popular non-alcoholic beverages.

From Texas Standard: Cowboys, longhorns, barbecue – all part of the state's identity. But before barbecue became part of the legend, there was the original. But where was the original, exactly? Where there’s smoke there’s Daniel Vaughn , barbecue editor for Texas Monthly. His research revealed what could conceivably be the first barbecue joint in Texas was born not too far from Lockhart, the town largely considered to be a barbecue mecca in the state.

From Texas Standard: Texas takes its food seriously – consider the breakfast taco war between San Antonio and Austin just a few weeks ago. It's no wonder advertisers are keen to target Texans. Even the behemoth fast food chain McDonald's is trying to get an edge in the Lone Star State. McDonald's is currently baiting Texans to create the first official McDonald's "Texas burger." What is a Texas burger exactly? Dallas Morning News restaurant critic Leslie Brenner gave the burger builder a try, but she said some crucial ingredients were missing.

From Texas Standard: It's been said that if you want an introduction to Texas barbecue, you should hit the Texas barbecue trail. It's a track that takes you from Taylor to Elgin to Lockhart, and finally ends in Luling. But really, that's just central Texas. As most of you know, there's a whole lot more of Texas to taste – like the southeast corner of Texas, where beef links trump brisket.

From Texas Standard: Mexicans consume more carbonated drinks per person than any other nation in the world, at an average of 36 gallons a year according to experts. That's 40 percent more than the average American.

From Texas Standard: Barbecue in the U.S. comes in all shapes and sizes. The multiple variations of sauces, cuts of meats, and rubs provide a distinction between certain regional styles of the dish. Or do they?

From Texas Standard: We’ve got some great news for you shellfish lovers out there – mudbug season has begun! Not quite yet, but thanks to unseasonably warm temperatures, delicious crawfish have made their way into restaurants and markets across Southeast Texas.

From Texas Standard: If you attended the Texas Craft Brewers festival earlier this year, you saw the work of more than 60 of those craft brewers. It was an opportunity for these breweries to get their brands and their beers in front of the drinking public because many haven’t been around for very long.

From Texas Standard: Every Christmas my mom would bake eight pies: four apple and four pecan. Now, we wouldn’t eat all of those ourselves. Two would be given away to pie-less people and two would be placed in the deep freeze for some emergency of the future. Pies and money were similar in my mom’s mind. Save a fourth of everything in deep savings for some future need. When baking these pies, she had a quite a memorable ritual she followed.